You Be the Judge!

My newest Grandaughter and I were arguing about who had the biggest hands. So we had Marilyn take a pic. Allison's hand is the one on the top.

PLEASE REMEMBER THESE....

AND THOSE WHO SERVE US NOW. THIS IS IN FRONT OF THE BURT COUNTY, NEBRASKA, COURTHOUSE IN TEKAMAH. THANKS TO THESE MEN, WE ARE STILL FREE. EVERY COUNTY ACROSS THIS GREAT LAND WILL HAVE A SIMILAR LIST. MOST OF THE FAMILY NAMES HERE, ARE FAMILIAR TO THIS DAY, IN OUR COUNTY. INVESTMENT IN FREEDOM, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MONEY.

Two Views From the Porch

It's 53 degrees and 6 A.M. here on the farm. A little froggy, as my neighbor says, and the quiet is deafening. The first pic is looking North. The lawnmower will be pushed into service as soon as the grass dries off. Last week the corn was just barely noticeable here in eastern Nebraska. This week it seems to be growing several inches a day. I'll bet we will need to have it cultivated (ditched for irrigation) in the next ten days or it will get too tall.


This next pic is looking south from the porch. It shows the corn field and the back end of our 'fleet' of mini vans. As Elmer Fudd says, "Sshhhh, be bewy bewy quiet".

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I agree with the tee shirt I saw yesterday. I've reached the age where it's not advisable to go for a Skinny Dip. From now on it's called a Chunky Dunk.

In Poor Taste

My birthday is in January. Twice since I married my bride, she has thrown me surprise, 'Poor Taste' , birthday parties.
The invitations were stained with jelly and coffee. The people all came in clothes that were in poor taste. The gifts were in poor taste. The food was in poor taste and usually served with inadequate silverware of napkins. There have been more than one food fight and whoopi cushions. I recieved a wooden 5 wood as a gift. It had been chewed up by the dog and the handle was rusty. I had a gift wrapped in a used dog food sack. I have recieved a wig, viagra pills, prune juice, dandruff control shampoo, deodorant, and the list goes on and on. I've been asked how old I was, and how many years I thought I had left. At the last one we had guests who had traveled 6 hours to attend. Some guests wore poorly applied make-up, curlers, clothes that were too tight and too loose or had printing on them that should have been reserved for a fraternity party. Some clothing was dirty and a few blackened tooth's were there. I was invited to pull people's fingers a few times. All in all pretty wierd but memorable.. At the one for my Big 50, Marilyn gave me a BMW. A tray of cookies that looked like dog poop, in the shape of the letter W. (BMW, get it) Her centerpieces were made from moldy fruit and some were of dead flowers. I am always surprised at the effort this woman will go to. Or not go to.
Poor Taste Birthday Parties, give it a try. Funny stuff.

Let's Party!

I laugh many times during the day. Many of those are when I am by myself. I will see something in nature or in human nature, that is perhaps ironic, and laugh. It's the way I'm built.
About a month ago, early on a Saturday morning, I was idling to the field on my tractor, and the national news came on at the top of the hour and I heard something that made me burst into laughter. It was Primary election day in New Orleans, and Ray Nagin was a candidate. He had arranged to have thousands of voters BUSED into the city to vote. (apparently his buses weren't floating anymore) There were 44 candidates. I burst out laughing.
The irony for me was: 1. He was going to be embarrassed coming in 45th out of 44 candidates. 2. He had finally figured out how to get buses moving when he really needed to. 3. It was good to see him implement a plan. Something he couldn't do for the three days prior to hurricane Katrina.
The next day I really burst out laughing. He was one of the winners.
Last Sunday, they elected him Mayor again. That's not funny.
Apparently, these are truly native people. The same mentality that put New Orleans where it is, below sea-level, in hurricane country....has elected Ray Nagin mayor again.
The only difference between all of the storms that hit Texas and Florida and the one in New Orleans, is not FEMA, it is local preparedness. New Orleans had none.
A WARNING AND PREDICTION: A bad hurricane will hit New Orleans again. They will sit and wait, for 'the man' to come get them out of trouble. If you live there, get out NOW.
During the last, abbreviated Mardi Gras, a tv film crew caught a tee shirt worn by a young man. The shirt was imprinted with this, "Let's Drink Until Ray Nagin Makes Sense." Now that would be some party.

The boys and I played in a two man eliminator tournament yesterday. Tom, (on the left) teamed with my oldest Brother, to win their flight. Dan, (on right) had to play on my team and we 'also ran'. In this format, you play the front 9 to flight the field. Then play the back to eliminate one team per hole. Those tied with the highest on a hole, are in a chip off to see who goes home and who advances.
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The Farmer

There is an ancient story that says a preacher went to call on a good farmer. The farmer had gained the reputation of being able to buy fields that were overrun with weeds and turn them into fertile, productive land.
The Preacher greeted him and said, "Wow, You and God have done a nice job with this farm, it's beautiful!" The farmer replied, "You should have seen what God was doing with it before I came to help him."
The picture below shows me that although I can produce an occasional pimple, this is what God can do with plain ol' dirt. (Well...God and Marilyn)

Old Dogs

Have you ever seen an old dog lay in the dirt and the shade, in the hot summer time? The flies have eaten the tips of his ears until they're raw. The dog becomes annoyed with the flies, and starts to snap at them. Actually trying to bite flies in mid air. Snap. Snap. Snap. There is not a chance that this will have an effect on the fly population, or help the dog in any way. He has never really ever made contact with a fly this way.
In our human world, the people snapping in the air and not helping their situation, are usually given the job of receptionist. If not receptionist, they are for sure dealing directly with the public. Why? Why are they always put where they must interact with society. How about moving them somewhere in the business where they deal with something more closely geared to their attitude. Say a forklift.
Marilyn and I talked about this last night on our way home from Omaha. It seems these same people, as they age', begin to hate 'old' people.
My take on the subject is this. To them, life has turned into summer television. All reruns. "I HATE RERUNS," they say, "I've seen this, turn to something else, nope, I've seen that too, Gimme the remote," click, click, click, click..............
My answer to this is simple. Cultivate your bad memory and forget almost everything that has ever happened to you. Then when looking at life you will spot something you've seen maybe ten times before, but will say, "Well I'll be darned, LOOK AT THAT!"

Mothers Day 2006

I believe the best compliment you can pay a woman is to say she's a good Mommy.

This is my Mom and Dad. They've both been gone for a good many years now. They were both good parents but this is about Mothers. Mom loved her family and did everything she could to make sure we were all good folks. They both led by example. I miss them.

This is my Mother in-law. They say behind every successful man stands an amazed Mother In-Law. She is smetimes amazed....but won't admit it. She has committed her life to making sure I don't get too comfortable.

She is a good Mommy.

My future Daughter In-law is on the left. Should they decide to have children someday, she too will be a good Mommy. The other beauty is already my Daughter In-Law and is a really good Mommy. This pic was taken in a restaurant a few days after she had given birth to their second child.

My Daughter on the left and Mrs Ralph on the right. Two more really good Mommies.

This is the Mother of my children with some old guy. She's as good as it gets. I would only fault her in her taste in men. She works too hard, and always has. She has built her own successful business and our kids have done well because of her nurturing. Good Mothers are the fabric of our society, and civilization. As Rita Rudner said, when living by themselves, Men are like bears with furniture." These are just a few of the good Mommies I know. There are many. If you are a Mom, thankyou for doing your job. The world is a better place because of you. Happy Mothers Day to all. And to the Mothers pictured here, "I love you!"

Blair Nebraska. Maybe, if they purchased smaller potatoes, they wouldn't have to give them away.
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Scene From My Election Night Victory Party

Marilyn snapped this pic last night. The excitement was almost unbearable. I talked with our local election commissioner at about 11:00 pm. When I asked if I got any votes, she reminded me that I was unopposed, it was late, and she still had a lot to do. I guess I'll have to wait.
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Election Day in Nebraska

The people in this state are quite savvy. Right and wrong, for the most part, haven't been clouded to a shade of gray, (or grey) by the politicians, lawyers, and as I call them, Academia Nuts. If you lose sight of the goal while running, and go off on some tangent, you will lose.
Our gubernatorial race has three strong candidates who have flooded the airwaves with advertisements. They have had numerous debates and speeches where they appeared at the same podium, one right after the other. I want to tell all of you that with all of these opportunities to bash each other, I haven't heard one negative comment. They have all stuck to their own ideas and have pretty much ignored the other candidates. It makes for a difficult decision. If one had gone negative, I could have at least eliminated that one.
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I'm up for re-election to another 4 year term this year. In today's Primary and Novembers General Election, I am unopposed. Last election, I proved I can beat someone. (the incumbent) Now I'm anxious to see if I can beat nobody. I'll let you know how I did yesterday, tomorrow. It only took 140 and some votes to win the General last time so this could be a really low number.

Two Questions for You!

Cake isn't something we eat much anymore. Maybe after a funeral or at a meeting where someone brought a dessert. I like chocolate cake with white cream cheese frosting. When someone bakes a birthday cake for me, that's what it will be.
When one of the kids calls me and asks "What kind of cake would Mom like for her birthday?" I reply, "Chocolate cake with white cream cheese frosting." Then there is about 4 seconds of silence followed by, "Dad, isn't that YOUR favorite cake?" And then I innocently reply, "Oh, yeah, you're right."
So, what's your favorite cake???
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On a different subject. Tomorrow is our primary election day. We are going to, for all intents and purposes, be electing a new Governor for Nebraska in the Primary. Tell me how you would vote. Candidate C has always been your favorite. You like his ideas. But he only has 7% support in the polls. Candidate A or B will win. They are deadlocked at about 44%. You have a preference between those two.
Do you stick to your guns and vote for a sure loser, or do you try to make a difference in the 'real' race???

Ralph was saying his farewells in this picture. I show you this to call attention to Marilyn's shop where she works everyday (yellow building) And to a small sample of her gardening skills. Did you notice the two 'old birds' in the photo??
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My youngest son, Tom, with his Cooper, and his soon to be wife. Two reasons I'm having trouble keeping him down on the farm.
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Book Review

Marilyn reads for a while after she gets in bed. I usually ask her, "How's the book?" when I get in bed. For the past couple of weeks I've noticed a trend.
Night number one was, "different", then her view of the book began to deteriorate. From different, to "Pure fiction", to "It's a stretch", to "It's okay as long as you use no 'logic' while reading", to "Utter and complete garbage, it's crap."
Her final review on the book, I found last Saturday, late morning. As I was getting ready to go to town, I took a wrapper from a deodorant stick to the trash can. There in the bottom of the can was a nearly new, hardbound copy of the Da Vinci Code. Me thinks she didn't like it. Another good review can be found HERE.